Vallourec Umbilicals’ new orbital welding line

In July 2017, Vallourec Umbilicals launched a new orbital welding line for super duplex stainless-steel tubes in Venarey-Les Laumes (Côte-d’Or).

This line will enable the Company to increase its production capacity and better meet the growing demand in the offshore umbilicals market by reducing turnaround times.

Vallourec’t thinner super duplex stainless-steel tubes will yield lighter, more cost-effective umbilicals, that are therefore easier to install at sea. Their strength and mechanical properties, superior to those of other products currently available on the market, improve the overall performance of the umbilicals in operation. These are just a few of the qualities that have made the demand for this new, unique product increase steadily since it was put on the market in 2015.

The growth outlook made it possible to launch an investment project in August 2016 that aimed to increase plant capacity. This involved installing a new orbital line alongside the existing line.

The architecture for the new line was redesigned and a system of intermediary grids was developed to save time when performing operations, to reduce yields and thus to improve productivity for the plant as a whole.